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This document discusses key concepts in semantics including: 1. A theory of semantics attempts to explain the literal and non-literal meanings of words, sentences, and propositions. 2. Sentence meaning refers to the literal meaning of a sentence, while speaker meaning refers to what the speaker intends to communicate, which can differ from the literal meaning. 3. Semantics is concerned with both word and sentence level meanings, as well as propositional content expressed by sentences, questions, commands, and other utterances. The meaningfulness of an utterance depends on how much information it conveys rather than just whether it is grammatically well-formed.

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Aleksandar Gojčević
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57 views

Revision 1

This document discusses key concepts in semantics including: 1. A theory of semantics attempts to explain the literal and non-literal meanings of words, sentences, and propositions. 2. Sentence meaning refers to the literal meaning of a sentence, while speaker meaning refers to what the speaker intends to communicate, which can differ from the literal meaning. 3. Semantics is concerned with both word and sentence level meanings, as well as propositional content expressed by sentences, questions, commands, and other utterances. The meaningfulness of an utterance depends on how much information it conveys rather than just whether it is grammatically well-formed.

Uploaded by

Aleksandar Gojčević
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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REVISION (I)

semantics/lexical semantic relations/propositional semantic


relations/lexical semantics/sentence semantics/ semantic relations/
semantic theory/ utterance/sentence/proposition/ literal meaning/
non-literal meaning/word meaning/sentence meaning/ speaker
meaning/non-sentence

1. What is meant by a theory of semantics? Try to explain this briefly in your


own words.
2. Which of the following items appear to illustrate sentence meaning and which
illustrate speaker meaning in the way these concepts were discussed during the
lecture? Be able to explain your choice.
a A bachelor is an unmarried man
b A red light means ‘stop’
c A fine product THEY put out! (THEY is strongly emphasized)
d The sentences in the following pair appear to be opposite in meaning:
1) The bear killed the man
2) The man killed the bear
e My feet are killing me
3. Is meaningfulness synonymous with informativeness? Explain in your own words and
supply an illustration.
4. Is semantics concerned only with complete sentences? Explain.
5. Indicate whether each of the following sentence pairs expresses the same or different
propositions.
a Mary read the book / The book was read by Mary
b Fred took back the book / Fred took the book back
c The cat chased the rat / The cat was chased by the rat
d The chef cooked the meal / The chef had the meal cooked
e Hondas are easy to fix / It’s easy to fix Hondas
6. Explain the following: ‘Normally, when a speaker utters a simple declarative
sentence, he commits himself to the truth of the corresponding proposition: i.e. he
asserts the proposition. By uttering a simple interrogative or imperative, a speaker can
mention a particular proposition, without asserting its truth'.
7. In each of the following, indicate whether a proposition is asserted or not.
a John left yesterday
b Did John leave yesterday?
c Can John leave this afternoon?
d John, get out of here
e John!
8. Decide whether each pair of sentences below has the same or different propositional
content. If they have the same propositional content, identify the proposition that they
both share.
a Can John have some cake? / John has some cake
b Take out the garbage / You will take out the garbage
c Can you pass the salt? / The salt shaker is nearly empty
9. Utterances can be loud or quiet, in a particular regional accent, and in a particular
language. Can you think of other characteristics of utterances?

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